Armed men aim their weapons from a vehicle as smoke rises in the background near the General National Congress in Tripoli May 18, 2014. Heavily armed gunmen stormed into Libya's parliament on Sunday after attacking the building with anti-aircraft weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, witnesses and residents said. One resident said the attackers later left and that armed locals were now protecting the area. A Reuters reporter saw dozens of armed people near parliament. It was not possible to verify which group they might represent.

Libya Government Claims It Is In Control After Parliament Attack

Libya's government insisted it was still in control of the country Monday after an armed assault on parliament that it denounced as a bloody coup attempt.

Two people were killed as lawmakers were forced to flee and the armed men ransacked the legislature, The Associated Press reported.

Retired Gen. Khalifa Hifter's group said they would not allow the fractured country to become a "breeding ground or an incubator for terrorism." He denied it was a coup and insisted that his men were "fighting by the people's choice."

Armed men aim their weapons as smoke rises near the parliament building Sunday.

By late Sunday, armed men loyal to the central government were manning checkpoints in the city, and the fighting had reportedly spread to the highway leading to the airport.

But early Monday, the government released a defiant statement, saying that they were still in control of the country and decrying the clashes over the weekend.

"The government condemns the expression of political opinion through the use of armed force from all parties and it calls for an immediate end to the use of the military arsenal," in a statement read aloud by Justice Minister Asalah al-Marghani and posted by BBC News.

Three years after the U.S.-led intervention to topple Moammar Gadhafi, Libya is as fractured as ever. The country has had three prime ministers since March and has been unable to pen a long-planned constitution.